Aaron Donald’s also opening eyes with his 40

Jadeveon Clowney isn’t the only physical freak among the defensive linemen working out today at the Scouting Combine.

Pitt defensive tackle Aaron Donald just ran his first 40-yard dash in an unofficial 4.65 seconds.

At 285 pounds.

Even when that one’s inevitably rounded down a bit, that’s still stretching the laws of physics. When you multiply mass times acceleration, it will make Donald a high pick anyway.

But the short-area acceleration which is so vital for defensive linemen is where you get a real sense of Donald’s burst. His 10-yard split was 1.59 seconds, a hair behind Clowney’s 1.56, for a guy carrying an extra 20 pounds.

That is going to earn Donald a lot of comparisons to players such as Bengals All-Pro Geno Atkins, and guarantee that unlike Atkins, he won’t have to wait until the fourth round.

I don’t understand why Donald isn’t included in the top 10 players in this year’s draft. The guy is a beast on the field (unlike Clowney the past year), with no baggage. Some smart team will pick him at the end of the 1st round and will have themselves an Pro Bowl caliber DT for several years.